אדריכלות ישראלית

2018

פברואר

112

אדריכלות ישראלית

טרמוטולוגיה תאילנדית

editorial

Speak for

against we are all

The elections are probably on the threshold and the question whom to elect preoccupies us

all. Some maintain that bribing a Prime Minister who manages to survive against all odds

is all right, because there is no substitute. Others believe that maybe, among the ten million

inhabitants of Israel, there is someone with a deep voice who could replace him. I personally

believe that in the polarized situation wherein Israeli society is losing its mind, we must vote for

someone who adopts a positive line, instead of consistently shouting out no, quietly says yes.

Yes, I am excited by our impressive achievements in science, medicine, computers, inventions,

desalination and solar energy production; that at least we believe that we want a democracy;

that we somehow still manage to maintain a balance between the three authorities; and that we

know how to unite when the memorial siren ruptures the silence, and the heart.

I was proud that an Israeli officer was able to restrain himself like a mentch when a foolish,

screaming girl slapped him; happy that we don’t hesitate to investigate under caution, Including

our elected representatives, their wives and children. I’m glad we’re ashamed when a Knesset

Member behaves like an ass, and when a right wing member says enough, because it’s enough.

I’m as moved as a child who grew up in Zahala when we proudly sing the Hatikvah, despite the

fact we all know the melody was stolen from the “Homeland” by Smetana, who stole it from a

Polish wagoner’s song, knowing it was originally composed in 1400 as the “The Dew Blessing”

by Jewish liturgist Yitzhak Bar Sheshet.

And apropos Polish – I understand the human rights protesters who

compare African refugees with Jewish ones, and unlike several extreme

politicians I believe that God didn’t really mean that only Jews can live

here. It is important to remember that the Africans who came here on foot

to look for bread, did not believe it was an end-of- year trip, but rather an

alternative to a life-ending journey, no matter how the rationally motivated

Immigration Authority defines them.

I often wonder if anyone forgot about the law forbidding insult to civil

servants. The argument I prepared in advance for my imaginary attorney

is that one may ask whether the corrupt ministers, the infantile MKs and

municipal leaders, many of whom practice leisure culture in prisons, are

public servants at all. After all they act as if the public works for them,

and keep indiscriminately insulting us. What will happen, I ask myself, if

one day they decide to conduct a show trial against the public. And then

I remember that according to the laws of Israel, when things are not so

clear, we turn to the Halakhah, and there, in the Talmud (Baba Kama 7:1)

it is explicitly stated that stealing from thieves is not a crime.

With regard to architecture. The Holot Detention Center was built in 2013

by the Prison Service to incarcerate African refugees - some of whom were caught in their beds

in the middle of the night - in order to force them to stay there for three years. But when time runs

like a refugee fleeing from Eritrea, it’s probably no big deal.

And as for the residents of south Tel Aviv neighborhoods who are paying the price of the

government’s indifference, you are absolutely right! If the government were to rouse itself

from its obsessive preoccupation with promoting laws for its survival, and smartly employ this

important work force in jobs that no Israeli likes doing, it would save hundreds of hotels from

being closed down when the country is flooded with millions of tourists, save the agriculture

that is drying up, ashamed of having no continuing generation, and help the building industry,

which is unable to erect even one affordable building without foreign laborers, whether they are

refugees from Sudan, Eritrea, Turkey or China.

Long live Israel. The question is how long shall the wicked exult (Psalms 94:3).

Architect Dr. Ami Ran

Photo

: Dr. Iris Yaish

Editorial